Rudy Jomby hit a three-pointer as time expired and Cholet Basket picked up a huge 69-71 win over ratiopharm Ulm on Wednesday night. It is the third victory in a row for French side, which now sits in second place in Group G with a 3-2 record, while the third consecutive loss drops Ulm to third place with a 2-3 record. The hosts were close to a win that would have put them into Last 16 after Allan Ray hit both free throws with 1 second to go in the fourth quarter, but after a timeout, Jomby hit a game-winning triple that puts Cholet into position to control its own destiny in the final Ggame of the regular season next week. However, since Ulm has the tiebreaker, it Cholet loses and Ulm win, the latter will finish in second place and advance to the Last 16. Jomby finished with 11 points plus 8 rebounds, while Marcus Goree and Travon Bryant each scored 12 in victory. John Bryant led Ulm with 24 point and 10 rebounds and Ray finished with 18 points in defeat.

A layup from Travon Bryant opened the scoring for the visitors, and triples from Derrick Obasohan and Jomby got them to a quick start. John Bryant scored first for the hosts, but Jomby’s layup-plus-foul made it 6-15. John Bryant scored 10 of the first 14 Ulm points, and his triple made it 14-19, only for Terrell Everett to score at the end of the first and Rudy Gobert at the start of the second quarter making it 15-23. Ulm’s offense got going with a layup from Sebastian Betz and a three-pointer from Lance Jeter, but Travon Bryant made back-to-back baskets inside for the first double-digit lead of the game, 20-30. Luc-Arthur Vebobe made it a 12-point affair before Per Guenther sank a triple and his free throws cut it to 29-35, but Carl Ona Embo hit a three-pointer as time expired to give Cholet a 29-38 halftime lead.

John Bryant got Ulm going at the start of the second half, and he and Dane Watts proceeded to score on four consecutive possessions to cut the deficit to 39-42. Obasohan and Everett answered for Cholet, extending the margin back to 7 points midway through the third quarter, but Bryant and Watts each went inside to score again before Ray hit a triple to tie the game at 48-48. The hosts grabbed their first lead of the night on Philipp Schwethelm’s shot from downtown at the end of the third quarter, and Ray’s dunk made it 53-50. Vebobe and A.J. Slaughter briefly restored Cholet’s lead, but Ray hit two triples and Keaton Nankivil hit one to give Ulm a 62-56 advantage. However, Goree answered with a layup-plus-foul and started a 0-9 run that put the visitors back in the lead, and another Goree three-point play made it 64-68 entering the final minute. Ray replied with a three-point-play of his own to cut it to 1 point as everything was ready for a thrilling ending, and the game took unexpected turns in the final seconds. After Everett missed both free throws with 7 seconds to go for Cholet, it looked like Ray became Ulm’s hero as he sank both shots from the foul line with 1 second to go. The visitors took a timeout, tough, and it was enough time for Jomby to hit a shot from downtown and give Cholet a huge victory.